Device-to-Device (D2D) communication or Peer-to-Peer (P2P) communication refers to a communication service that is made via a communication link that is directly formed between terminals (also known as User Equipments (UEs)) without a network entity such as a base station (also known as an enhanced Node B (eNB)), an access point and the like.
A terminal supporting the D2D communication service may acquire synchronization with its nearby terminals and discover the nearby terminals using the predetermined timing and resources, thereby obtaining terminal information and service information for at least one nearby terminal. The terminal information may include identification information, interest information, application information and the like, for the terminal.
The D2D communication service may interwork with the cellular-based mobile communication, wireless communication or broadband communication system. A terminal supporting the D2D communication service may discover its nearby terminals using the timing and resources set by the base station of the mobile communication system, while using the same frequency band as that allocated to the mobile communication system. The terminal may access a network and receive a lot of support needed for the D2D communication service, such as authentication, security and the like.
In order to use the D2D communication service, security should be set between terminals. According to the related art, with the help of the network, a pre-shared secrete key and security algorithm and an IDentifier (ID) of a terminal may be exchanged between terminals desiring to perform D2D communication. The information and algorithm exchanged may be delivered not by a D2D communication channel, but by a secured communication channel which is used for related-art communication such as a 3rd Generation (3G) network, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network or the like.
The related-art communication system (e.g., the LTE system) may include Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) security between a UE and a Mobile Management Entity (MME), and Access-Stratum (AS) security between a UE and an eNB. Since every UE has its unique security key between the MME and the eNB, the security key may not be used for D2D communication. In other words, UEs may not share the security key because the UEs cannot decrypt encryption of each other and cannot trust each other.
In order to overcome these and other problems, application-based ID and key information may be delivered not through the D2D communication, but through another network (e.g., LTE). However, according to the Proximity based Services (ProSe) requirement documents, if a UE uses an ID, which is used in LTE, in D2D communication, a security policy should be adopted, a level of which is equivalent to that of the LTE system.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.